Minneapolis – The 2015 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships are off to a blistering start as a battle has emerged between Gustavus Adolphus College and the University of St. Thomas following day one. With 240 points each, the Gusties and Tommies are neck-and-neck after the first day’s competition being held in the Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota. St. Olaf College sits in third place with 135 points, while Carleton College is in fourth with 101.
“Despite staring out a little flat in the morning, the women stepped up big tonight put together some inspiring performances,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson.
The Gusties won both of the day’s relays and got individual event wins from senior Jennifer Strom (Rochester, Minn.) and sophomore Hayley Booher (Warren, Vt.).
Gustavus’s dominance of the relays began when Michelle Campeau (Fy., Rochester, Minn.), Kate Reilly (Fy., Hastings, Minn.), Danielle Klunk (Sr., Appleton, Wis.), and Katie Olson (Sr., North Oaks, Minn.) teamed up to win the 200-freestyle relay with a time of 1:34.80. The race was determined by the slimmest of margins as the second place St. Thomas team finished right behind the Gusties with a time of 1:34.81. Thanks to its effort, the 200-free relay achieved the NCAA Selection Time from 2014.
In the 400-medley relay to cap the night, Booher, Strom, Reilly, and Olson touched the wall in 3:47.68 to claim gold and also achieve the 2014 NCAA Selection Time.
“St. Thomas is swimming amazing and that made for an exciting night and a great battle in both relays,” commented Carlson. “I was pleased with our splits throughout the evening, and the girls are excited for fights like those tonight to continue throughout the weekend.”
The Gusties placed two individuals on the podium in the 500 free. Jenny Strom out-swam the field with gold medal time of 5:02.53, and Leah Anderson (Jr. Apple Valley, Minn.) finished third with a time of 5:09.41. Strom also found herself in a dogfight of a race but was able to beat out St. Olaf’s Maddie Lee who finished second with a time of 5:03.56. Jenna Muntifering (So., Buffalo, Minn.) also cracked the top eight in the race with a sixth place finish in 5:16.46
“Jenny put together a smart, veteran swim,” said Carlson about his senior’s race. “She swam with a very talented swimmer in St. Olaf’s Maddie Lee and then took off in the last 100 yards. Jenny showed the champion she is with that race and it’s a great start to the weekend for her.”
The Black and Gold’s other win came courtesy of Hayley Booher in the 200 individual medley. Booher swam an NCAA B cut time of 2:07.33 to claim the top spot on the podium. She beat Maria Wetzel of Carleton who placed runner-up in 2:07.53. Dani Klunk also finished fifth in the race with a time of 2:09.71.
“Hayley Booher finished third in the 200 IM last year and came up huge for us with a win in the same event tonight,” Carlson said. “She swam a perfect race – well paced and smartly swam – and that’s why she came out on top.”
To put the finishing touches on Gustavus’s top performances of day one, Katie Olson and Kate Reilly filled up the 50 free podium. Olson finished runner-up with a 2014 NCAA Selection Time of 23.40, and Reilly placed third with an NCAA B cut time of 23.87. Out-swimming the Gustie pair was St. Thomas’s Emma Paulson who turned in a time of 22.99. A total of four Gusties made their way into the top eight in the race, as Michelle Campeau finished fourth (24.08), and Tarin Anding (Jr., Sartell, Minn.) took sixth (24.25).
“Our 50s were great tonight,” stated Carlson. “Since most of the relays left are sprints, it bodes for the rest of the meet.”
The 2015 MIAC Championships will continue tomorrow morning with preliminary races beginning at 10:30 a.m. The evening championship races will start at 6:30 p.m.
Based on today’s results, Coach Carlson expects the battle between Gustavus and St. Thomas to go to the bitter end. “Give credit to our girls who rose to the occasion and battled St. Thomas all the way. The Tommies are deep and talented, and we knew this weekend was going to be a challenge. After one day, it’s proved to be every bit the battle we anticipated.”
Courtesy Of The MIAC
Following each of Thursday evening’s races, a short awards ceremony was held to honor the top eight finishers. The top three finishers in each event received medals and automatically earn All-Conference honors. Thursday’s All-Conference honorees are listed below.
Tickets are available at either a single-session rate, or all-session passes will also be available for fans who plan to attend the entire event. Single-session passes cost $8 for adults and $4 for students, and all-session passes are $40 for adults and $20 for students. Heat sheets are included in the cost of admission. Children 5 and under are admitted free, and MIAC passes will be honored for all six session. No other passes or discounts will be accepted.
As in years past, all six sessions will be broadcast live online thanks to Webcast America. Fans will also be able to watched archived video of each session following the event and purchase DVDs of the broadcasts via Webcast America’s site. MIAC Media’s Mike Gallagher will handle play-by-play duties for four of the six sessions, with St. Catherine swimming alumnae Lauren Kranig taking over for the other two sessions. There will also be “live” results available online with results updated shortly after the conclusion of each event for fans following the action from afar.
The MIAC has an exclusive Web site for the 2015 MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships. The site features the complete event schedule, psych sheet, ticket information and venue information. The site will be constantly updated throughout the event with heat sheets, links to follow the action live, results, recaps, photos and more.
Fans can also monitor MIAC women’s swimming and diving on-the-go thanks to the the MIAC mobile app, which is a free download for both Apple and Android devices. Also, connect to the conference on its Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages and use the official event hashtag #MIACSD to interact throughout the championships.